


Sanctuary

by Emanemmy12



Category: Harlots (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, For whatever reason things are happy and have worked out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 16:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15710976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emanemmy12/pseuds/Emanemmy12
Summary: Isabella finds a moment to reflect on her and Charlotte's relationship.





	Sanctuary

Sometimes it is the smallest things that get to her. Things that she hadn’t possibly been able to imagine before. The idea that her heart ever could be at peace had been so foreign for so long that Isabella is sometimes startled by it. The hurdles that had to be overcome in order to have this small sanctuary had been so large that they had both broken down, pulled away from each other and how they felt so many times. But somehow, through some miracle they had managed. They had pulled through her own damnation and Charlotte’s curse. In her mind, Isabella knows that it must be due to the brilliant light that is the woman she loved. She had spotted it so early on, how fiercely the younger woman fought, how she carried a torch that was brighter than all the stars fused together. She doubted that once Charlotte decided on something that she could ever be denied it, like a relentless storm Charlotte never seemed to tire. For how else were they here? With the soft light of the sun trickling through the curtains, letting a vision of small particles dance over top both of them. Even after all those years, Charlotte’s sleeping face still brought Isabella’s breath to a stand still. There was never any denying the other woman’s beauty, but it was the way how soft it became that melted Isabella’s heart. If Charlotte with a cause was like a storm, her sleeping face was like a still pond, a surface that held unknown and hidden depths. 

As Isabella mused, Charlotte shifted in her sleep, arm tapping lightly into her torso. Her head flopped over towards her lover and a soft curl bounced onto her forehead. It was that which did Isabella in and she could no longer help herself. Her fingers had been itching to trace smooth skin from the moment she’d awoken and so they lift and ever so carefully push back the curl. While she hadn’t meant to wake Charlotte, eyelids flicker and then open. A languid smile pushes the corners of her mouth open and Charlotte scoots forwards, tilting her head upwards to demand a kiss, which Isabella gives. The young woman gives a self satisfied purr that’s practically a rumble with the sleep that still clings to her. “Why’re you waking me up, my lady? I thought I satisfied you plenty last night.” Her voice, being lower naturally, is only deepened by being half awake and Isabella can’t help but lick her lips. She could listen to Charlotte speak all day, every word is captivating with it drops from those luscious lips. It still sends a thrill of joy when Charlotte lays claim to her. She’d never thought that she would find freedom in being someone else’s. 

“You’ll have to forgive me, I did not mean to wake you.” Her own words are soft, Isabella hardly able to speak with how light and content her heart was. This very moment was a gift that she would never stop being grateful for. 

Her words are blessed with a low chuckle. “If ya were still wanting more you could have said something.” 

Isabella smiled and then shook her head. “I do not desire anything more but what you have already given me. I was just…” She trailed off, slightly embarrassed by her sentimentality. Charlotte pulled back and raised an eyebrow, insisting to hear the answer without words. Knowing that she would never hear the end of it otherwise, Isabella gave in. “I was just being grateful.”

“For?” 

“For you, of course.”

It’s Charlotte’s turn to flush slightly and she reached up, hand resting on Isabella’s hip. It would have been easy to brush away the statement with a joke, but the look on the older woman’s face stopped her. “I didn’t do anything. Not anything that you didn’t deserve.” Her thumb brushed against the curve of Isabella’s hip. It had become an action so familiar that now it was a method of grounding herself, that reminded Charlotte of why she was here, what precious things she had to protect. 

Those simple words make Isabella shake her head and she leaned down, pressed her lips to Charlotte’s shoulder before pulling back away. “It is your belief in that that is what I’m grateful for. In another lifetime, you must have been a knight, a crusader.” 

The idea made Charlotte chuckle and she shifted back in to Isabella, hand going from the lady’s hip to the small of her back in order to pull her in closer. Her head tucked underneath Isabella’s chin and both woman took a collective breath, steadying each other with the familiarity. “It’s too bleeding early in the morning for poetry. But thank you.” She always made sure never to actually invalidate her lover’s thoughts, knowing that Isabella had come from a place that hadn’t allowed her to acknowledge their worth. It was something that Charlotte adored about her, the way that words seemed to blend effortlessly into music when Isabella spoke. Every single one had a thought and a meaning behind it that she loved to get to uncover. 

For a few long moments, neither of them spoke. They just lay there in each others arms, letting their heartbeats dance until becoming one. It was still slightly too early for them to have to get up, so there was no rush and no fear that succumbing to sleep again would end in disaster. While they had never really said it, they both understood that this was love plain and simple. To give it words meant that it could be used against them, that it could somehow be corrupted. But here, alone, without the rest of the world demanding from them, they did not have to worry. It was Isabella who fell back asleep first and then Charlotte. It would be another hour at least until they had to wake up, pull away from each other’s arms, and start the day. Then they would stretch each minute as they got ready, neither wanting to leave, but knowing it must happen. The day would have all it’s usual chaos and demands, but both women would face it all, knowing that they would find sanctuary at the end of it.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what the show will give us with these two down the line, but man I'm a sucker for a happy ending so this is my take of what that might look like.


End file.
